Sorting a jagged array in C# by multiple columns

Question

I know there's been a lot of questions and answers but neither applies to my problem. I have a jagged array that I'd like to sort by the values in array b, c and d:

string[][] toBeSorted = new string[][] { a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j};

This only sorts by "rows"

toBeSorted = toBeSorted.OrderBy(inner => inner[2]).ToArray();

I have tried Array.Sort(c.ToArray(), b) and similar approaches but they mixed the whole selection in case of multiple valued sorting

So now when I have values in toBeSorted like "John", "Smith", "New York", etc. I'd like to have my array sorted by the "cities", "surnames" and for example by the values in array g at last. So the values are a = names, b = surnames, etc.

I am .NET 3.5 dependent in my scenario.

Thank you.

Could you provide some examples? Do you want to sort values within b, c, d arrays? — Dmitrii Bychenko
– Dmitrii Bychenko, Commented Nov 1, 2016 at 14:26
Your question is not very clear - in your example "John" and "Smith" are two different arrays? what does it mean to be sorted by surname when you only have strings in your array? — barakcaf
– barakcaf, Commented Nov 1, 2016 at 14:30
It seams that each array represents some data that should sit in a class with properties.. Is that the case? — Gilad Green
– Gilad Green, Commented Nov 1, 2016 at 14:31
Hi @DmitryBychenko, that would do it, but the thing is I'd like to keep the other related values "linked" together. So if I sort the b,c,d arrays, the other values from a, e, f, g, h, i and j would be rearranged as well - but only b, c, d need to be sorted. — baron
– baron, Commented Nov 1, 2016 at 14:33

Gilad Green · Accepted Answer · 2016-11-01 15:04:52Z

4

Instead of using a string[][] where each item in the inner array actually represents a different "tag" of data create a proper class with the properties being those "tags":

public class Person
{
    public string Name { get; set; }
    public string LastName { get; set; }
    public string City { get; set; }
}

And then:

var people = new List<Person>
{
    new Person { Name = "A", LastName = "1", City = "B" },
    new Person { Name = "B", LastName = "3", City = "B" },
    new Person { Name = "C", LastName = "2", City = "B" },
};

//Linq OrderBy:
var result = people.OrderBy(p => p.LastName);

//List Sort:
people.Sort((x, y) => string.Compare(x.LastName, y.LastName));

edited Nov 1, 2016 at 15:04

answered Nov 1, 2016 at 14:36

Gilad Green

37.3k7 gold badges67 silver badges99 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

5 Comments

baron Over a year ago

perfect, thanks a lot - my last question is (a little odd) - how do I extract the values from the sorted var now? from the result variable?

Gilad Green Over a year ago

@baron - what do you mean extract results? It is a collection so you can iterate it

baron Over a year ago

as an example when I'd like to do: foreach (var i in result) { objWriter.WriteLine(i.LastName);} ..nothing is written in the output file.

Gilad Green Over a year ago

That is to do with the writing to the file itself that you are missing something. If you just foreach and print to Console you will see it is fine

baron Over a year ago

Thanks a lot for all the help ;) ..I'll look deeper into it then.

barakcaf · Accepted Answer · 2016-11-01 14:58:08Z

3

Follwing @GiladGreen answer, you could achieve the same without creating the new classes, using anonymous types (assuming the data is uniformly formatted):

var people= toBeSorted.select (p => new {Name = p[0], LastName = p[1], City = p[2]});

var sorted = people.OrderBy(p => p.LastName);

answered Nov 1, 2016 at 14:58

barakcaf

1,3242 gold badges16 silver badges28 bronze badges

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

Sorting a jagged array in C# by multiple columns

2 Answers 2

5 Comments

Comments

Your Answer

Linked

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

2 Answers 2

5 Comments

Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Linked

Related